Local opinion is split on plans to demolish an existing kennels and cattery in a Nottinghamshire village to make way for new homes. A planning application has been submitted to Gedling Borough Council by planning and property company Grace Machin, on behalf of owners Liz & Bart Lacey, to demolish Suntop Boarding Kennels & Cattery at the back of Spring Lane on the outskirts of Lambley.
If the plans get the green light, the site would be turned into 5 new dormer bungalows with private access driveway and car parking provision. Of the 5 bungalows, 4 of them would have 3 bedrooms, and 1 would have 2.
Access to the site is on a dirt road, but if the plans go ahead, the driveway would be hard surfaced in a bound material. The site is within Green Belt land.
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Stewert Price, 40, who lives on Spring Lane, said: "If it goes ahead, construction vehicles will struggle to go up and down off road. Only 1 person maintains that road, and it could destroy that driveway.
"It could lead to even more plans, and I don't want any plans for houses creeping to nearer where we live. There could be houses on the new road that's behind, and it'll be interesting to see if there is any planning permission for that. Next door to that site of the kennels used to be a scrapyard."
But other locals do not mind the plans at all.
Rob Stevens, 50, who lives on Spring Lane, said: "I don't really mind, what bothers me more is hearing dogs barking. The people there have owned the land for a long time, and I don't see a problem if they want to move on.
"They've run that place for a while, at times the noise can be annoying but that's not a complaint. You can't see it from the road and it used to be a scrapyard, but it's much more pleasant up there now."
Janet Stapleton, 65, who was walking her two dogs on Lambley Lane, said: "It doesn't bother me too much, and I guess people need somewhere to live. There is so much housing cropping up at the moment around Nottinghamshire though.
"I wonder if it does go ahead if it would pave the way for people to want to build more homes around here."
George Machin, partner at Grace Machin, said: "The site is located within an established area of sporadic mixed development located off Spring Lane, which comprises a number of dwellings of varying ages, designs, materials, scale and appearance, alongside a variety of other development in varying business uses. The five dwellings proposed will occupy a previously developed site, which currently accommodates a substantial number of unattractive buildings associated with a kennel and cattery business.
"The new 1.5 storey dwellings will replace the existing poor quality buildings. The footprint of the new development will be substantially less than that of the existing, while the overall height, scale and massing will not be materially greater than the present development.
"We have an excellent working relationship with Gedling Borough Council and we hope to achieve positive support from the council’s planning team over the coming weeks. The overarching design approach, along with the palette of materials to be utilised and the interesting, bespoke architectural design will ensure that the proposal delivers a high quality development, which complements and sits comfortably within the existing built and natural environment."
